


A Brief Respite

by goldendayer



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:01:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21515710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldendayer/pseuds/goldendayer
Summary: Ed shook his head and waved him on, turning slightly away. “Sorry, sorry-- go ahead.”It took considerable effort for him to keep it together as Al finished putting the newly created abominations on. With a clank of his armor, he stood up and held his arms out in a gesture of presentation. “All right, here they are.”As soon as Ed turned to allow himself an un-obscured view, he completely lost it, having to catch himself on the edge of a chair.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric
Comments: 5
Kudos: 96





	A Brief Respite

**Author's Note:**

> This came from a dumb Idea I had at 4am. As usual, I'm a visual artist and not a writer, so it might be kind of rough. But regardless, it's nice to see the juvenile side of these two every once in a while, huh?

Whenever winter came around and coated the ground in ice and snow, the soles of Al’s metal feet would start rusting. Although the brothers eventually came up with a solid solution, (transmuting a coating of a rust-resistant metal onto the bottoms of Al’s feet) they at first played with some more unorthodox options. One night while Al was attempting to de-rust his feet after a long day of trekking through snowy streets, Ed threw an idea on the table.

“What about shoes?”

Al looked at him incredulously. “ _Shoes?_ Shoes on a suit of armor? Are you serious?”

However, as soon as the words had been uttered it was clear to them both that the idea was one so ridiculous that it had to be done.

“Let me make a prototype,” Ed said with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. Al watched as he grabbed a spare towel from the bathroom, and then some erasers and rubber bands from their impromptu workspace on the table of their hotel room.

“Do you wanna measure my feet first?” Al jokingly asked, aware that this was not going to be a serious attempt at a solution.

But Ed had already begun arranging the materials into a small pile on the floor. “I’ll just eyeball it.” he replied confidently. With that, he put his hands together and set the transmutation in motion with a burst of blue light.

As the shoes were materializing in front of them, they boys realized with glee that the red dye in the towel was carrying through into the material of the shoes, which, of course, had to be constructed of a canvas-like material instead of the typical leather. After a few seconds, a giant pair of cherry-red men’s shoes sat in the middle of the floor.

The two stared at them for a moment, in awe of what was perhaps the best idea— not necessarily in a practical sense, but certainly by sheer entertainment value— they had ever come up with. Al gestured to the shoes. “May I?”

“But of course, dear brother.” Ed jested.

Al walked over, picked them up, and brought them to where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He began to put them on.

All it took was Al putting the tip of a foot into one of the shoes for Ed to lose his composure. He let out an uncontrollable exhale of laughter before quickly covering his mouth with the side of his hand. Al looked up and saw that his brother was struggling to keep a straight face.

Ed shook his head and waved him on, turning slightly away. “Sorry, sorry-- go ahead.”

It took considerable effort for him to keep it together as Al finished putting the newly created abominations on. With a clank of his armor, he stood up and held his arms out in a gesture of presentation. “All right, here they are!”

As soon as Ed turned to allow himself an un-obscured view, he completely lost it, having to catch himself on the edge of a chair.

Having not seen himself in all his glory yet, Al looked down at his shoed feet and began to laugh a little, more at his brother’s reaction than anything else. “Is it that bad?” He asked.

“Just go look.” Ed replied breathlessly, raising an arm to point at the full-length mirror on the far wall.

And so he did. All Al managed to get out was a short “Oh,” before they both fell into complete hysterics. By this point, Ed had completely collapsed to the ground with tears in his eyes and Al, too, was doubled over laughing. There was just something enormously funny about the sight of a giant, seven-foot tall suit of armor wearing nothing but jumbo-sized red shoes.

After a minute or two, Ed sat up, steadied himself and sighed, wiping a tear out of his eye with his left hand. “I think it’s a good look,” he said with a still wavering voice.

“You think so?” Al questioned, standing up straight and rotating a shoed foot so that all angles of it could catch the light.

“Oh absolutely.”

“Hang on,” Al said, having suddenly had an idea that he knew would further debilitate his brother. “Watch this.”

Ed then watched as Al broke into a jig. Every time his feet came down they created a loud _THUMP_ on the wood floor, and although Al briefly recalled that they were staying on the second floor, he was too far into the execution of the joke to care.

“Stop, stop--” Ed was doubled over on the floor.

“Stop what?” Al replied, standing still for a moment before starting to dance again, “This?”

Ed was nearly paralyzed with laughter. “I’m serious, stop-- any more and I’m gonna pee myself,” he managed to gasp out.

But before Al could continue, there was a soft knock at the door. The brothers jumped a little, and then quickly attempted to calm themselves as best they could. Ed swore quietly and then cleared his throat. “Coming!”

He got up and opened the door, which swung open to reveal a disgruntled looking man who they quickly realized was the manager.

“Is everything all right, gentlemen?” He said, peering into the room. “I’ve just received some noise complaints from the guests below you. Are you aware of the time?”

Ed quickly glanced at the clock on the wall from the corner of his eye. It was 11:45pm. “Er, yes. We’re very sorry, sir.” he replied sheepishly, while Al tried to quietly sidestep out of view behind him. “We’ll quiet down immediately.”

“Hm.” The manager said, squinting. He craned his neck and gave Al a once-over, before apparently deciding to let the boys off the hook. “Very well. Keep it down.”

“Yes sir.” They both said nearly simultaneously. With that, the manager shut the door and his footsteps faded down the hallway.

Ed and Al looked at each other, again having to stifle their laughter.

“That was pretty good.” Al said.

“Agreed.”

The two were silent for a moment.

“So how much would you give me to walk into the colonel's office wearing these next time we see him?”

Ed grinned. “How does 500 cenz sound?”

“It’s a deal.”


End file.
